RE: Necessary Thing
April 24, 2016 at 6:04 am
(This post was last modified: April 24, 2016 at 6:09 am by robvalue.)
OK, thank you for trying to explain I think I get the gist of what you are saying.
I still think the answer is no, science cannot tell us this. It would involve extrapolation beyond what we can observe/test. If we cannot test, our conclusion requires 100% accurate and exhaustive (relevant) premises. Just basing them on "what things seem to be like" produces a speculative result; one which we have no way whatsoever to test the truth of.
In theory, there's no logical reason things can't go on forever in a certain way, out of our ability to detect. We'd have to be aware of some restriction which stops this from happening, which we can only speculate on, based on current observations. We don't get to tell reality how it behaves.
This is exactly why science is done the other way around, so that the testing comes after the premises, to see how good they are.
In short, we can never be sure we have all the relevant information to draw the correct conclusion, if we're not making predictions and checking back with reality. At best we can produce reasonable speculation. This is why philosophy alone is not an adequate tool for gaining truth about reality. It cannot simply continue to run where science leaves off with any demonstrable reliability.
I still think the answer is no, science cannot tell us this. It would involve extrapolation beyond what we can observe/test. If we cannot test, our conclusion requires 100% accurate and exhaustive (relevant) premises. Just basing them on "what things seem to be like" produces a speculative result; one which we have no way whatsoever to test the truth of.
In theory, there's no logical reason things can't go on forever in a certain way, out of our ability to detect. We'd have to be aware of some restriction which stops this from happening, which we can only speculate on, based on current observations. We don't get to tell reality how it behaves.
This is exactly why science is done the other way around, so that the testing comes after the premises, to see how good they are.
In short, we can never be sure we have all the relevant information to draw the correct conclusion, if we're not making predictions and checking back with reality. At best we can produce reasonable speculation. This is why philosophy alone is not an adequate tool for gaining truth about reality. It cannot simply continue to run where science leaves off with any demonstrable reliability.
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